SAT-admissions-intelligence

SAT gets an overhaul, partners with Khan Academy


Changes to the SAT include offering free test prep, digital version of the exam

SAT-Khan-testingMajor changes are coming to the SAT, the College Board announced Wednesday at SXSWedu, including a test preparation partnership with the nonprofit learning website Khan Academy.

“We’re thrilled to collaborate closely with the College Board to level the playing field by making truly world-class test-prep materials freely available to all students,” said Sal Khan, founder and executive director of Khan Academy.

Through the partnership, Khan Academy will offer 200 online videos to be used as study aids for the newly redesigned SAT. Like all of Khan Academy’s offerings, the videos will be free to watch.

This is a marked shift addressing a well-known criticism of the SAT: that only wealthy students can afford to purchase strong test preparation materials.The test-prep market is worth more than $1 billion.

Paul Kanarek, senior vice president of test prep company Princeton Review, told Politico that “the industry is going to undergo some upheaval” due to the SAT’s overhaul.

(Next page: Other changes; reaction to the SAT’s update)

The other changes, which will take effect in spring 2015, include offering a digital version of the test, eliminating the use of purposefully obscure vocabulary words, and making the writing section–only introduced in 2005–optional. The scoring system will return to the old 1600 scale.

The College Board will also offer four college application fee waivers for all low-income students.

“We can cut through so much red tape and hesitation by giving students the admission fee waivers they need, information they understand, and the encouragement they need to apply more broadly,” said College Board’s president David Coleman. “This is only possible through the support and generosity of our member colleges.”

The changes, Coleman said, are designed to increase opportunity for disadvantaged students, which helps explain the partnership with Khan Academy.

While it frequently draws comparisons to the popular but oft-criticized massive open online courses (MOOCs), Khan Academy is somewhat of a darling in higher education circles. When the White House organized its higher education summit around similar college access issues in January, Khan Academy was a high-profile partner in the initiative.

Overall, reaction to the changes have been mixed.

Alan Arroyo, dean and professor of the Regent University School of Education, said he sees the alterations as a “dumbing down” of educational standards. Bob Schaeffer, public education director at the National Centet for Fair and Open Testing, said the changes don’t go far enough and that the College Board is simply trying to compete with the more popular ACT, whose essay component is already optional.

“The partnership with the Khan Academy is unlikely to make a dent in the huge market for high-priced, personalized SAT workshops and tutoring that only well-to-do families can afford,” Schaeffer said on Wednesday. “Like most of the other College Board initiatives announced today, this move is less significant than its promoters claim.”

Others have said the overhaul is a direct attempt to “thwart test prep firms.” But if those firms are nervous about the new (and free) competition, many put on a cheery poker face this week.

“We think it’s terrific that the College Board is making SAT prep widely available for students of all income levels,” said Seppy Basili, vice president of Kaplan Test Prep. “Not only are they validating that test prep works, but it’s something we’ve been doing for years.”

Follow Jake New on Twitter at @eCN_Jake.

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